David Cameron flies to Spain after a 'tough' week telling his own MPs he needs 'more time to think'

David Cameron has said he needs “more time to think” as he leaves for a week’s holiday in Spain after a “tough” week in which he has lost a Cabinet minister and performed an about turn on welfare spending.

The Prime Minister made the remarks to Tory MPs at his end of term meeting with the Conservative party’s back bench 1922 committee.

Unusually Downing Street sent officials and minders to the meeting to ensure that journalists were not able to ask him questions before he addressed the MPs.

Clutching a speech of hand notes, Mr Cameron reportedly told the MPs: “I could do with time to think. It has been a tough week but let’s not lose sight of what we do.”

Mr Cameron's comment that he "could do with more time to think" was "in relation to the ultra-fast news cycle", one Tory MP said.

Left: David and Samantha Cameron on holiday in Lanzarote this month; right: on holiday in 2013Credit:
Getty Images/AP

Mr Cameron's Government was stung by criticism about the Budget in which it had been forced to drop plans to save £4.3billion from the benefits bill after an outcry from backbench Tory MPs.

He was also plunged into crisis by the shock resignation of Work and Pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith in protest over the cuts.

Tory MPs said the meeting was marked by the absence of prominent Eurosceptics, with most of the questioning from younger MPs from the 2010 and 2015 intakes.

Mr Cameron also said that the MPs should not forget that the Government "wherever you stand" that the Tories had given them the vote on Britain's future in Europe.

His remarks were greeted with the traditional - and prolonged - banging on desks by Tory MPs.

David Cameron and his wife Samantha on holiday in LanzaroteCredit:
Getty

Mr Cameron is due on Thursday to fly on a budget airline for a week’s holiday on the Spanish island of Lanzarote, where he will be joined by his wife Samantha and their children.

The Prime Minister was criticised last week for taking the holiday in Lanzarote, despite urging British families to take a break in the flood-hit north of England this year.

Friends of Mr Cameron defended his decision to holiday abroad pointing out that he has been swimming in lakes in Cumbria every year since he became Prime Minister in 2010.

Mr Cameron previously visited the holiday island in 2014 with his wife Samantha and three children.

Her family is understood to own a holiday home on the volcanic isle. The Prime Minister also enjoys Cornish holidays and in 2010 the Cameron's daughter Florence was born in hospital there after Samantha went into labour three weeks early during a family holiday.